Effect of Cultivar and Crown Size on Yield and Quality of Strawberry Fresh Bare Root Plants in Sicily

In the southern regions of Mediterranean areas the plantations with fresh plants (winter planting system) have almost completely replaced those with cold stored plants (summer planting system). Particularly, fresh bare root plants produced in high elevation nurseries located in Spain and Poland and, in experimental phase, in the southern of Italy (in the mountains of Sicily, Calabria, Basilicata) are the most used. Such type of plant usually has a crown diameter from 6 to 14 mm, but the smallest plants should be (<8 mm) discarded in phase of selection and packing. Objective of this study was to investigate the influence of the different crown diameter on the earliness, productivity and quality of two new cultivars of strawberry. The research was carried out in 2007/08 in the experimental fields located in Palermo. Three typologies of fresh bare-root plants (small plants: crown diameter 6-8 mm; medium plants: 8.1-11 mm and large plants 11.1-14 mm) and two cultivars ('Candonga' and 'Nora') were compared. The experimental design was a split-plot with 3 replication and individual experimental plot of 4.6 m(2). The plantation was established the 22nd of October in a plastic greenhouse of 600 m2, on two-row beds and at a plants density of 9.1 plant/m(2). The production started in January and finished in May. The medium plants (crown diameter 8.1-11 mm) were earlier than the others types. The marketable production during the whole harvesting period was influenced by crown diameter. Large and medium plants (crown diameter 8.1-14 mm) produced more than small plants (crown diameter 6-8 mm) (respectively 590 and 551 g/plant). 'Candonga' (586.8 g/plant) produced more than 'Nora' (567.9 g/plant). The average strawberry weight wasn't statistically influenced by the typology of plant but by the cultivar; 'Candonga' produced the biggest fruits. The crown diameter of fresh plants influenced earliness and productivity of strawberries. To ensure high production it should be use medium and large fresh plant with a crown diameter from 8.1 to 14 mm.